Utah Valley heads to the Lone Star State for a three-game series against the UT Arlington Mavericks this Friday and Saturday, the teams' first meeting as conference opponents.
Friday's doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. MT, with Saturday's series finale slated for an 11 a.m. MT first pitch. All three games will be streamed on WAC International.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley bounced back from a series loss to California Baptist with a 12-10 win over crosstown rival BYU on Tuesday at Wolverine Softball Field. The Wolverines used a 10-run third inning to come from behind and take the lead for good. The 10-run inning was the most runs scored in an inning since Feb. 25, 2018, when UVU scored 13 in the first inning against Southern Utah.
Payge Armendariz continued her hot streak at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs. Armendariz has an extra-base hit in five straight games and in seven of her last eight.
Halle Morris provided the spark that got the UVU bats going in the third. Morris blasted a three-run home run in the third to make it a 5-4 ballgame, and went 2-for-4 with a double, three RBIs, and two runs scored. With the two hits, Morris extended her reached-base streak to 17 games.
Megan Gibbs had her team-best 11th multi-hit game of the season on Tuesday against the Cougars, going 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. Gibbs is having a career year at the plate, leading the team's starters in batting average (.382), slugging percentage (.742), home runs (9) and RBIs (33). She is also tied for the team lead with Amber Rodriguez for most runs scored at 26.
After this weekend's series, UVU will not leave the Mountain time zone for the remainder of the regular season, and will only leave Utah for one non-conference game at Idaho State. The Wolverines will play a road game at Weber State and a road series at SUU.
SERIES HISTORY vs UTA
This weekend's series marks the Wolverines' and Mavericks' first meeting as conference opponents since UTA moved to the WAC ahead of the 2022-23 athletics year.
This weekend will also be the first meetings in the series to take place on-campus. The four prior meetings have been at neutral sites, with the Mavericks winning each game. The two teams last met in 2015 in Lubbock, Texas, with UTA winning the two games played 13-4 and 8-4. UVU and UTA were slated to play a non-conference game in Orem last season, but that game was snowed out.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will return home for a five-game homestand starting on Tuesday, April 16 against the Utah State Aggies. The in-state rivalry matchup is slated to begin at 6 p.m. MT, and the game will be shown live on ESPN+.
